


baby it's cold in the vacuum of deep space

by avosettas



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sgrub Session, Discussion of Past Sex, Multi, Naked Cuddling, Nudity, Troll Romance (Homestuck), is that a fucking tag, quadrants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:55:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22214407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avosettas/pseuds/avosettas
Summary: “I told Eridan and Karcrab to set up a pile in the rec room!” Feferi says cheerfully.“And we’re going to cuddle and sing troll kumbaya?” It’s sarcastic, but Feferi and Aradia both nod excitedly.Or, some trolls get stranded in space and don't have much fuel left.
Relationships: Eridan Ampora/Sollux Captor/Aradia Medigo/Feferi Peixes/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21
Collections: Polyswap Winter Promptfest - Dusk Edition





	baby it's cold in the vacuum of deep space

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [liasangria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/liasangria/pseuds/liasangria) in the [Polyswap_Winter_Promptfest_Dusk_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Polyswap_Winter_Promptfest_Dusk_2020) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> **They're on a ship (post-rebellion? hiding from the Empire?) and OH NO they're stranded in SPACE...in order to keep the basic life support functions going, they have to keep the temperature and lights down....so we get 5-way cuddle piles...**
> 
> **listen this is just a flimsy excuse for cuddle piles (or sexy cuddles, your choice heheh)**
> 
> i keep hating on eridan but hes my favorite troll... anyway the intended dynamics were karkat <> eridan <3< sollux <3 feferi <3 aradia <> sollux.

“How are we doing on fuel?” Your name is Sollux Captor, and you’re part of a motley crew that made the ill-advised decision to flee Alternia before the Ordeals.

“Bad,” you tell Aradia glumly. She squeezes your shoulder, in consolation, maybe. “Ask FF what we should do, she’s technically in charge.” 

“I think she’s kind of let Karkat take charge,” Aradia replies, leaning for a moment on the crown of your head and staring out into the stars. “Her whole reason for wanting to leave was because she didn’t like the power structure, you know?” 

“Then ask KK. Ask fishface for all I care. Just ask someone,” you grumble, meaner than you should be. You adjust the lights slightly, until you’re on the verge of having to squint. 

“Sollux, are you _trying_ to kill us? I can’t fucking see!” Karkat rages over the intercom. You hear something crash on his side.

“No, but you’re doing a good job of it yourself,” you tell him as the crashing continues. Aradia comes back in, Feferi in tow. 

“We think that we should keep the lights as low as possible,” Aradia says. 

“And probubbly the temperature, too,” Feferi adds. 

“You’ll freeze,” you protest, turning down the lights as dim as they’ll go without turning off. You don’t touch the thermostat. “And ED too, I guess.” Seadwellers are coldblooded. Karkat and Aradia both run warmer than you, but you’re still considered a warmblooded troll. 

“I told Eridan and Karcrab to set up a pile in the rec room!” Feferi replies cheerfully. “We don’t really have a destination, right? So just stick it on autopilot to the nearest system that the Condesce doesn’t control!” 

“And we’re going to cuddle and sing troll kumbaya?” It’s sarcastic, but Feferi and Aradia both nod excitedly. “Fine, give me some time. I’ll be there in a bit.” 

~

When you arrive in the rec room, you are greeted to the site of a floor covered in blankets. 

Also, Eridan curled up on Karkat like a purrbeast, and Karkat looking very annoyed about it, but you just laugh at that. “Having fun, KK?” 

“Aradia’s just as warmblooded as I am!” He unsuccessfully tries to push Eridan from his chest, but you know Eridan is sturdier than he looks, considering his lean figure. You wish you could say you knew that for reasons that _weren’t_ caliginous pailings…

“Maybe I should join you two.” You smirk. Karkat hisses. 

“Fuck off, Sol,” Eridan grumbles, digging his claws into Karkat’s sweater. It’s almost cute, the way he’s curled up on Karkat and using his stupid cape as a blanket. Karkat, for his part, is mostly allowing this to happen with minimal grumbling, since you, Aradia, and Feferi won’t listen. 

Aradia and Feferi return (from where, you don’t know, you just know they weren’t in the rec room) with more blankets. 

“I vote,” Aradia says seriously, “we form a cuddle pile on Karkat.” 

“I’ve been telling Eridan, you’re just as warm as I am!” Karkat yells at her. Feferi disregards his anger and sits herself next to his head. 

“Oh, Karcrab, that just means you get to be the center of the cuddle pile!” 

“Maybe I don’t _want_ to be the center of the cuddle pile!” 

Aradia glances at you, then shrugs and spreads one of the extra blankets on Eridan and Karkat. Then, she uses another to practically lasso you by the shoulders and yank you into the pile. 

You get a face full of cape, and rip it with your teeth by accident when you raise your head. Feferi giggles from where she’s settled down, curled around Karkat’s shoulders. Karkat seems to have accepted his fate as the heated pillow of your group. 

“Watch the cape - _watch the cape_!” Eridan shrieks, shoving you towards Aradia. You land in her lap, but at least you’re face up this time. You wouldn’t mind hitting Eridan with your fangs, but you like Aradia too much to subject her to being scratched by them. 

“This is a fucking nightmare!” Karkat yells, startling both Feferi and Eridan. You merely curl up further on Aradia’s lap. 

Finally, Karkat manages to sit up, displacing both seadwellers. The five of you are covered in blankets and still freezing - Feferi’s fins are losing their fuschia tinge, and Eridan’s teeth are clicking together, even as he tries to stop them. 

“Skin-to-skin contact is supposed to help warm people up,” Aradia says knowledgeably. At the strange looks you and Karkat give her, she explains, “I read a lot of books on survival for fun when I was little.” 

“You’re tellin’ us to get naked?” Eridan asks in disbelief. 

“Yup.” Nonchalantly, Aradia pulls off her own shirt. Apparently, she’s completely fine showing off her rumblespheres. “Oh, since you and Feferi are coldblooded, you two should be in the middle.” 

“We’re doomed,” Karkat grumbles, averting his eyes as Aradia removes her skirt as well. Feferi looks at you and shrugs, and then pulls a blanket around her shoulders. You can’t see her getting undressed but since she’s throwing her clothes out from her blanket bundle, you know she’s following Aradia’s advice. 

“If you silly buoys don’t want to cuddle, fine,” Feferi says, scooting towards Aradia. “But we’re cold.” 

“No, I’m stayin’,” Eridan mumbles, unclipping his cape. You’ve already seen him naked, and considered it unsatisfying - pailing him was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done, but the drones were coming the night before your planned escape and you hadn’t found anyone for your pitch quadrant yet. Eridan had just fallen out of his recent kismesiship… which hadn’t actually helped him gain any experience. It took quite a while for the both of you to get off. 

That might have been the anxiety from the incoming drones and the upcoming escape, though. 

You very pointedly do not look at Eridan as he continues to remove his clothes, and begin removing your own. Feferi and Aradia are trying to convince Karkat to cuddle - he’ll be the most helpful, after all, because of his blood color. 

When you end up sitting there in your boxers, next to Feferi, you join them in pressuring Karkat. Except you just stare instead of actually saying anything. 

“Holy shit Sol, I think you lost weight,” Eridan says under his breath to you, folding his shirt. Somehow, you ended up naked before him, even though he started undressing first. 

“Thanks, the anxiety from probably being hunted down by the Empire is really fucking up my metabolism,” you reply sarcastically. 

“Wasn’t a compliment,” Eridan grunts, straining to get his stupid tight pants off. When he does, he skips folding them and instead decides to sit _right next to you_ , sandwiching you between him and Feferi. You glare at him, and he just crosses his arms at you. You can practically hear Feferi rolling her eyes on your other side. 

In the meantime, Aradia has convinced Karkat to join the rest of you, and is currently helping him untangle himself from his own sweater. 

“Aren’t you cold, Ara?” Eridan asks, sounding petulant - maybe because Aradia is nearly on top of Karkat _and_ naked save for her panties. 

She’s a pretty attractive troll. But also your moirail, and you aren’t into the whole “rails with pails” thing. You did consider asking her about that when drone season came, but Feferi had needed a flushed quadrant, and Aradia had settled for a bronzeblood hoping to be a cavalreaper… 

You don’t think he made it through the Ordeals. 

“Nope, I’m good,” Aradia turns back and grins, finally getting Karkat out of his sweater. 

Karkat scrunches up his nose and crosses his arms. “Well, now _I’m_ cold!” 

Feferi giggles at him. “C’mere then, Karcrab! You look like an angry purrbeast.” 

Karkat scowls deeper, and pushes his pants off as if they’ve personally offended him - probably to keep Aradia from doing it herself. Then, he situates himself on Eridan’s other side. 

“No, no, you should be in the middle because you’re the warmest Karkat,” Aradia reasons. “And me and Sollux will be on the ends.” 

By this time, Feferi has already laid down in her bundle of blankets, still shivering. Karkat takes one look at her and moves himself, rolling his eyes. He’s all talk, and he likes to think none of you know it. Eridan follows Feferi’s example, grabbing a blanket for himself before settling down. 

Aradia picks out a large, heavy quilt from the extra blanket pile and hands you one end, taking the other and putting herself next to Feferi. 

“Why am I stuck next to ED?” You whine. 

“ _Because_ you two are kismesises. Feferi needs the warmth more, anyway.” Karkat growls. “Now shut up, I’m tired.” 

Eridan is facing you when you lie down, and he bares his teeth at you when you move closer to make sure the quilt is covering all of you. You hiss in response. 

“If you two are going to pail, go do it somewhere else!” Karkat yells. 

Feferi covers her ears, and she and Aradia giggle at the three of you until they drift to sleep. 

(Eridan eventually turns over, and it’s much easier to sleep next to him when you aren’t looking at his face, as it turns out.)


End file.
